


USO (how to not be a chorus girl)

by Shadow_Chaser



Series: The War as We Remember [2]
Category: Band of Brothers, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Bucky shows hints of being super soldiered from Zola's experiments, Episode: s01e07 The Breaking Point, Gen, Like super protective because he's the Commandos First Sergeant, Lt. Speirs is awesome, Protective Bucky Barnes, Steve's never dug a foxhole, This story sets up "Bandages"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2234598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Chaser/pseuds/Shadow_Chaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Commandos arrive to coordinate an attack with the battalion on Foy.  Featuring very defensive and protective Bucky Barnes and Steve learning how to dig a proper foxhole with advice from Dog Company's Lt. Speirs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	USO (how to not be a chorus girl)

_USO (how to not be a chorus girl)_

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**Story:**

 

Steve went through Basic like every man who volunteered to be in the Project Rebirth program for the SSR in Camp Lehigh. The initial step was three months of grueling training, especially since he did not have the serum to help him then. Then it was off to Fort Benning and the infamous Frying Pan to get their official certification as paratrooper infantry – jump wings. Then back up to the Naval Academy at Annapolis for lessons on water maneuvers and combat tactics followed by going back down to Camp Mackall, home of Airbourne Command. There, they hit the books, studying more and more that Steve felt like he was back in college, except no art pencils. Overall, eight months of continuous training and education – eight months of a continuous urgency that Steve knew that they were needed on the front lines; be it an offensive launched from Britain or up through Italy, the North African front, or even in the Pacific going after the Japanese.

Colonel Phillips wanted the volunteers of Project Rebirth to be leaders, not necessarily graduating from OCS, but leaders nonetheless, front-line soldiers willing to charge into the fray against the Nazis, fearless, head of the column. It was only after Erksine explained to Steve what the serum enhanced in terms of qualities that he realized that Phillips knew that whatever happened, the serum was going to make their reactions and mental capacities fast – hence so much training, certifications, and knowledge crammed into them over the span of a year. However, Steve secretly wondered from time to time if Project Rebirth wanted to make Berzerkers, like Norse mythologies. Smart ones, but berzerkers nonetheless.

After those grueling months, they finally returned to Camp Lehigh for final evaluation and Steve had been chosen as the first subject and the Project produced its first and only successful test result.

And then he was regulated to be a USO performer.

The rank was a nice perk, actual Captain pay, but the fact that he had been regulated to nothing but a chorus girl, clown suit and all...well...it was something – until Peggy dared him to be more, to not be either a lab experiment or a performing monkey.

And so he led his men into the fray, the head of the column. Everything that Colonel Phillips wanted and got. HYDRA ran, fought back, dug in, was rooted out and fell back some more. Steve led the charge, unaware of his growing reputation, even the reputation of the fearless Howling Commandos. He knew there were comics published about “Captain America” with him punching Hitler in one of the many issues he had to sign while on tour, but he was not actually _aware_ of the storylines. If he had, he would have wondered why his mission reports were being turned into comic storylines – though heavily watered down for the children to enjoy. But to those on the front-lines, those who were fighting, they read in between the fantastical storylines, the battles against caricatures of HYDRA facilities, they gleaned some of the mission reports and they understood. Then there were the official news from headquarters, company newspapers and clippings, reports circulated around, front pages of newspapers back home brought to Europe about the Pacific front, even about their fellow battalions and troopers. How offensives in the front, only miles away, were doing. Amongst those reports were reports on the Commandos and their not-so-secret missions – aside from some of their really top secret ones, those were not published.

The soldiers heard of Captain America and the Howling Commandos' exploits, but it was the front-line infantry and armored divisions that knew better. That even with the exploits, the success relayed to them each time they were pulled back for rest and refit, that each time they would get word that Captain America was just as human as the rest of them – that Captain America was injured or worst, dead.

After all, Captain America was only human.

And to the 2d Battalion who had been called up to hold Bastogne at all costs, to not let Hitler's last great offensive break through after it had almost did once earlier in the month of December, 1944, Captain America was just a legend, a myth, something of a derisive joke. Slightly respected only because of the official news, but to them, Captain America was still just a fictional comic book character.

To Easy Company, Captain America was just a Replacement. After all, if he ever came on the front lines they had long decided he would be treated like one. He did not jump with them on D-Day, Holland, Operation MARKET-GARDEN, or sit in the trenches on the lines near Foy, Bastogne behind them. To them, if Captain America came on the front lines, he would have to  _prove_ himself to 2d Battalion, and ultimately, Easy Company.

* * *

Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes was rescued in early January, 1944 from Schmidt's HYDRA facility. He had been a prisoner of war for the past four months, the cold winter in the ending section of the Alps providing a stronghold for the Germans and HYDRA to set up their batteries and hold out until Steve's drop. The SSR returned to London by March 1944 with the rest of the 107 th , and whomever else had been captured by HYDRA; having fought their way across the Mediterranean, up to Paris and from there up to Aldbourne, England then to London. By then, the USO tour Steve had been on was canceled, Captain America finally joining the war, attached to the SSR.

Immediately after arriving in London in March, there was talk that General Eisenhower wanted Captain America to join the offensive that would be known as D-Day on Normandy, France. Eisenhower wanted to use Steve's training and tactical knowledge gotten from the eight-month tour of training facilities back home to the fullest. However, he was persuaded by both Howard Stark and Colonel Phillips that HYDRA was a bigger threat for Steve's skills to be utilized – to create a more specialized light infantry unit designed for hit-and-run attacks. The beginnings of guerrilla warfare against the Red Skull and his forces. Thus, Steve was not involved in D-Day and instead, spent time assembling the Commandos, training with them, before being sent out on the first mission to a HYDRA outpost south of Normandy.

The outpost was destroyed with little effort and trapped a contingent of Kraut reinforcements from continuing the flood the plains around the D-Day site. The Commandos knew how each other operated by then and was ready to hit their first major HYDRA base that Steve had found during his rescue of the 107 th . Like the men of Easy Company and eventually the rest of the 2d Battalion, the Commandos found themselves dragged from one mission to another, much like how Easy Company and the 506 th were relied upon so heavily – because they both knew how to get the job done, fearless, brave, and unwilling to bend and break in such insurmountable odds and pressure.

And so in the span of seven months of operation, the Howling Commandos found themselves undertaking mission after mission against HYDRA. They occasionally helped the front-lines when they were nearby, but most of the command staff they encountered knew that the Commandos were after HYDRA and thus were not exactly obligated to help reinforce their lines; only patch it when they could and if they had time. Some of the officers ended up resenting it, some ignored it, some tried to pull rank and cajole the Commandos to stay, especially seeing the equipment and gear they were occasionally carrying. Some of the officers sent the Commandos on their way, sparing a platoon or a few men to help them get to their objective – which more often than not were behind enemy lines.

As the Commandos First Sergeant, and also unofficially Steve's second-in-command, even though Lieutenant Montgomery Falsworth outranked him, Bucky was well aware of everything, rumors, and whispers, and even the stories told around and about them. Whether or not Steve was aware was another story, but Bucky knew everything. It had been his job as a noncom to make sure his platoon in the 107 th was doing okay, to give and relay orders when their commanding officer ordered them to fire or go on patrol. He had easily taken up the job once more, a silent observer and occasional sounding board to everyone on the Commandos, including Steve more often than not. He knew Steve was a reluctant leader, but also knew that his best friend was probably the best leader anyone could ever have. He did everything that he expected someone else of lower rank or even a noncom to do – that was the makings of a very great leader, head first into the fray.

It had taken Bucky the whole of the trip back to London from Italy to come to terms that Steve did not exactly need his physical protection anymore, but he still very needed his mental protection. Steve was an officer and it was Bucky's duty both as his best friend and as his First Sergeant, to make sure that he was able to lead without any untoward problems. The other officers, the ones that wanted Captain Rogers, Captain America, to stay on the front-lines with them instead of finishing their mission, those were the ones that Bucky discreetly talked to the noncoms about, or even made not-so-idle threats whenever he was sure Steve was not within hearing range. Not within hearing range meant pretending to send Steve and one of the other Commandos out to scout out the perimeter on a pretense for him to find a good sniper's nest for Bucky to eventually cover the Commandos.

The good ones, the ones that understood what they needed to do, well, those were the ones whom Bucky usually found something in the HYDRA outpost or base and on their way back accidentally sent it to the front-lines to them. A few extra K rations, smokes, or even a blanket, or new boots, something to give his thanks. Those people he was kind of aware that Steve also knew about since he had caught him trying to requisition a rather large order of smokes and candy to that particular battalion leader.

So the Commandos arrived January 4 th , 1945 to a very bedraggled looking 101 st Airbourne, 2d Battalion command post with men still shivering. They had just only gotten winter supplied by Allied Forces only a week and half ago on December 26 th after General Patton broke through. Bucky was immediately on the defensive as he saw the hardened look the men wore, staring at them with open wonderment, whispers immediately starting as all stared at Steve; well, mostly his shield stuck on the back of his winter coat and the 'A' on his helmet. The Commandos themselves looked a little worst for wear, after being dropped off outside Bastogne and made their way across the bombed-out town and towards the front-lines of their objective.

Bucky shouldered his sniper rifle and narrowed his eyes a little as he adjusted his steel helmet, following Steve as they approached the post. A cluster of eight men were standing just outside, and he could make out the low undertones of a slight raspy, but soft-spoken voice giving commands, six of the seven other heads nodding. The voice paused and Bucky saw them all turn, staring at them with something of a surprised look. Only two did not look surprised and Bucky surmised by their looks that the two had been informed in advance, but probably only just.

“Sir,” Steve stopped and snapped off a quick salute which was returned by one of the two not so surprised looking men. Bucky could make out a patch of red hair underneath the quiet look the man wore as he returned the salute.

“Captain Winters, Captain Rogers,” the man returned the salute introducing himself and gestured to the dark-haired slightly sleepy-eyed man next to him, “Captain Nixon and I were only informed of your imminent arrival an hour ago.”

“My apologies for the short notice, but our intelligence pinpointed the reason why Hitler was able to make his offensive and break through at Noville. There's a HYDRA outpost nearby that's been using the opportunity to take prisoners in between shellings,” Steve explained and Bucky saw everyone frown at the news.

“Well that explains why you're here,” Nixon commented with a slightly sardonic smile that Bucky thought was condescending until he caught the edge of a tight grin underneath it. He immediately understood that Nixon was the intelligence staff officer attached to the Battalion and probably was trying to find out besides losses from shellings, why so many men had gone missing. But with the Krauts pinning them outside of Foy, they could not gather any intelligence or information. The Commandos had weather intelligence relay that fog had also been a big problem, making patrols easily lost and thus easy pickings for HYDRA or any Kraut to pick them off.

“What do you need from us,” Winters looked like a man ready to aid, even though it was clear that his men and the line here was barely holding. Bucky noticed that some of the men who had lingered behind, even the officers that had been talking to Winters were surly looking, almost defiant. Whether they were defiant from beating back the Krauts or for their presence was another story, but Bucky did not let his guard down or smile at Winters' offer for help. For all he knew, the man could just as well turn it into a favor or try to negotiate for them to stay after they were done with their mission.

“We need time to scout the perimeter near the base and wanted to make sure we can dig our foxholes next to yours,” Steve asked, and Bucky caught his wording to be a little more careful than most of the time. Everyone had heard about the Battered Bastards at Bastogne, and the defiance that they did not need rescuing by Eisenhower or his forces. Steve was asking Winters permission to temporarily join a company, but only temporarily.

“What's the duration?” Winters was smart, and Bucky was having a little hard time trying to read him. He wasn't overtly helpful like some of the commanders they had encountered in previous months nor was he demanding them to stay. Instead, he only asked simple-to-the-point questions.

“High Command wants to take Foy and then push into Noville and will want to do it soon,” Steve replied, “our objective is to the east, beyond the railroad tracks.”

“Dog Company's along there right now...,” Winters pursed his lips slightly and turned to one of the officers near him, “Lieutenant, might want to settle our guests in for the time being.”

“Yes sir,” the Lieutenant nodded before gesturing to another officer, “Lieutenant Speirs, you're in charge with settling the Commandos into your platoon.”

“Sir,” Lieutenant Speirs hefted his own rifle and headed out as turned and followed, Steve nodding his thanks to Winters as the others crowded back around. The Lieutenant that was apparently in charge of Dog Company trailed behind, apparently picking up a few supplies.

Bucky had heard of Lieutenant Ronald C. Speirs; almost everyone had by now. There were rumors abound about him, killing Kraut prisoners, shooting one of his men on D-Day, but this was the first time that he had seen him. Speirs had a hard look about him, stern, the look of a leader. However, the distant  _whomp-whomp_ of mortars, 88s, and other things being fired in the distance, getting louder as they walked towards the edge of the main line of resistance, made him look instead towards the direction of the open fields.

“First time out on the line?” Speirs asked, the barest hint of quiet sarcasm in his voice and Bucky tensed, ready to knock the Lieutenant down a few pegs before Steve answered.

“First time digging a foxhole,” everyone paused at his words, and even Bucky blinked, staring at Steve in surprise.

Speirs turned around and stared back, his silence and expression saying all of his words and doubts.

“Steve-”

“They...expected me to outrun mortars, 88s, Tigers, and whatnot,” Steve shrugged and Bucky could see something change in Speirs' expression before a crooked smile worked its way up his face.

“Well then, sir,” the dark-haired Lieutenant's tone was still quiet, but there was a wryness underneath that Bucky recognized as a teasing sort, “make sure you dig wide and deep enough to get some use out of that shield of yours. Mortars and 88s make a hell of vibration.”

Bucky could not help but grin at the joke made about Steve's shield as the other Commandos chuckled quietly around them. He decided that he liked the Lieutenant, especially with the very dry humor around him.

“Sir, you can start digging over here,” Speirs paused and pointed to a part of the ground, “best place for your CP-”

“I'll take the edge of the line if you will,” Steve shrugged, before turning back to them, “Morita, Dugan, set up your hole here, communications relay. Let Phillips know we're on the line.”

“Gotcha boss,” Morita tipped his helmet as he and Dugan set to work on digging their foxhole.

Bucky caught Steve turning to Speirs who was staring at him with a little more respect in his eyes before turning around and heading further towards the edge of the woods. The Lieutenant even started to point out good spots for foxholes as the men of Dog Company peered out of their own as they passed by. Bucky heard whispers, but most of the men just seemed too in shock to do anything. Steve put Dernier and Jones to work while Falsworth had apparently found a couple of fellow British paratroopers sitting with Dog Company and had wandered to talk with them as he dug his own foxhole near theirs.

Finally Speirs pointed out his own, just a few yards back from where machine gun turrets were set up, a little outside what was deemed the safe zone for a command post in a platoon, but Bucky noticed it was well covered and well fortified. Speirs liked to be amongst the men instead of hiding behind them. He saw Steve move a few yards away and set his gear and shield down before glancing at him. Bucky grinned.

“I ain't digging Steve. I've dug one too many in the Italian front,” he suppressed the memory of digging graves for the bodies of Dr. Zola's failed experiments, one of the many things he and the others had to do while they were HYDRA's prisoners.

“Fine,” Steve shook his head and started to dig, the infantry shovel-ax hilariously tiny in his large gloved hands, but Steve worked  _fast_ . Bucky sat down on the cold snowy ground as Speirs knelt near him, the two of them watching Steve dig his first foxhole.

“It's good, but you might want to dig wider on the bottom. Nights here shrinks the ground,” Speirs pointed out, “don't want to get stuck if you need to jump out.”

“Thanks,” Steve huffed as he turned and started to widen the hole a little. There was once a time just a year ago that Bucky would have urged him to take it easy, to not give himself an asthma attack; but as he listened to his best friend's breaths, he could hear no telltale sign of a wheeze or anything that indicated Steve could not breathe.

He let loose a quiet sigh, marveling at the wonder of the serum that ran through his friend. While he was mostly used to Steve now being able to keep up and even surpass him, sometimes it still surprised him to see him do things that he was not able to do before.

“Friends?” Speirs suddenly turned and asked him and Bucky nodded.

“Brooklyn boys,” he shrugged before he coughed, “sir.”

The corner of Speirs' lips twisted in a half smile, “Since when have you been respectful, Sergeant Barnes?”

“Uh-”

“Heard about what you did in Azzano,” Speirs shrugged, “picking off Krauts and keeping your platoon in line until HYDRA showed up.”

“Yes sir,” Bucky did not realize that stories had been told of what had happened in Azzano before HYDRA had captured most of the 107 th and other allied forces there. High command over there had given them a idiotic batshit insane order to try to climb the hill when the Krauts had the high ground. There was no cover save for the occasional farmhouse and that could not hide a whole company or battalion. Bucky instead, after his Lieutenant had taken a hit right in between the eyes, ordered his fellow snipers to slowly take out the threats while having the others crawl their way up slowly. “Didn't matter though, after HYDRA showed up.”

Speirs made a noise of agreement and opened his mouth to speak before Bucky spotted something in the far distance out of the corner of his eye. He held his hand up for silence as he turned to face the open field and beyond that, where the Krauts were clearly hiding.

“Bucky?” Steve hissed quietly, the noise of his digging having stopped. Even Speirs was looking at him as Bucky squinted, staring out- There!

He immediately dropped to his belly and unslung his sniper rifle, crawling forward to where the machine gun turret and crew had all but fallen silent, watching him before turning to try to see what he was seeing.

“Mortars, two teams,” he called back quietly as he could feel Speirs and Steve behind him, both crouched, wary and tense.

“Bombardment?” Speirs asked.

“Possibly. I can take them out, wait...” he spotted several glints, “mortars and bombardment to scare us, snipers in the trees.”

“I'll relay the order,” Speirs immediately tapped him on the helmet and shuffled away. Bucky settled his rifle on his shoulder, evening his breath as he looked at the machine gun team. “Don't go firing yet, I don't want to be deaf.”

One of them chuckled weakly before Bucky turned his head a little, “Steve, better get that foxhole ready.”

“Let's hope its good enough, Buck,” he could hear Steve behind him before he shuffled away.

Bucky breathed out quietly as he heard more shuffling behind him before Speirs tapped him on his helmet, “We're set.”

“Okay...” Bucky sighted down his scope. He had a cartridge of eight in his rifle, bolt action, and there were at least four glinting scopes he could see. With the scope to his eye, he saw the white-coats of the Kraut snipers trying to blend into the snow-covered trees and smiled tightly to himself. He knew that as soon as he fired and took out the first sniper, he would have to move fast, taking out the other three before the Krauts launched their counter offensive against them for killing their snipers.

Bucky breathed out and breathed in, his breaths steady before he fired.

 

~END~

 


End file.
